Tag archives for melissa arnot

They say that reaching the summit is only half the climb. And if that’s the case, it’s possible that Melissa Arnot just became the first American woman to climb Mount Everest without using supplemental oxygen. Arnot reached the summit of the 29,029-foot (8,848-meter) mountain on May 23, achieving a dream that, for her, has been…

See more photos like this in our Extreme Photo of the Week gallery. “I have actually never tried to climb an unclimbed mountain, so this was totally new for me,” says mountaineer Melissa Arnot, seen here with Ben Jones about 100 feet below the summit of 20,600-foot Mustang Himal. They made the first ascent of…

Climber and mountain guide Melissa Arnot has summited Everest five times. She is attempting two more summits in the 2014 season. She and Dave Morton co-founded The Juniper Fund. Everest is a beautiful and sacred place. Anyone would be hard pressed to disagree with that sentiment. Each season an international community pops up with a…

On this day 50 years ago, May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to stand atop Everest, a feat which made him a national hero. A few weeks later, May 22, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld made the daring first ascent of the West Ridge and the first traverse of the peak, electrifying…

Text by Tetsuhiko Endo MOUNTAINS It was a busy week in the Himalaya last week, where, despite strong winds and bad weather on numerous peaks, determined climbers summitted on Everest, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga and a host of other mountains. In an often male-dominated world, it was the women who stole the show. Edurne Pasabán is finally…

The weather has broken on Everest and after 12 long days of waiting, Ed Viesturs and the First Ascent team are making a move. They left base camp about fifteen hours ago and should be getting close to Camp 2 by now. “I’m a little bit nervous,” admitted Melissa Arnot, who is trying to become…

Text by Tetsuhiko Endo Alpine-style climbing is a preparation game. Gear must be checked and re-checked, camps must be made and stocked on different levels of a mountain, the body must acclimatize to altitude and the mind must steel itself against cold, fatigue and fear. No one knows this better than the men and women…

Text by Tetsuhiko Endo Approaching a high mountain is a tricky process. It must be undertaken with great care in order to ensure that climbers will be both physically and mentally prepared when they push into the lethal 8,000-meter realm. With that in mind, the First Ascent team has split up into three separate groups…

Photographs by Jake Norton It's an all-star team on an epic journey: Four of the planet's most accomplished mountaineers—Ed Viesturs, Peter Whittaker, David Hahn, and Melissa Arnot—will attempt to climb to the rooftop of the world this spring. The expedition, sponsored by Eddie Bauer's First Ascent Clothing and Gear Line, began its ascent on March 30.…